Opera Vista

Music:

Member Since: 11/07/2006
Band Website: www.operavista.org
Band Members:
The Core:

Viswa Subbaraman (Artistic Director and Co-Founder)
Jerry Gibson (Executive Director)
Chuck Winkler (Stage Director)
Daniel Buchanan (Director of Artistic Operations)
Kinga Ferguson (Media Relations)
Chris Knudson (Consigliere/PR and Co-Founder)

Phone: (832)735-6240 Fax: (713) 583-0196
Influences: Friends of Opera Vista/Advisory Committee:
John Nelson, Music Director, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Howard Pollack, Noted Copland and Gershwin Biographer
Buck Ross, Opera Director, University of Houston
Bechara El-Khoury, Composer, Paris, France
Stephen Jaffe, Composer, North Carolina
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor, North Carolina Symphony
Jefferson Todd Frazier, American Festival for the Arts
Sounds Like: The Vista Competition for Opera Composers

Opera Vista Announces Second Annual Vista Competition for New Opera

Viswa Subbaraman, Artistic/Music Director

Houston-based opera company promotes contemporary classical music, seeking new music for its 2008 composition contest

Houston, Texas, September 7, 2007 - Opera Vista today announced its second annual composition competition. Following on the highly successful 2007 competition, which saw an incredible number of entries submitted from composers worldwide, the 2008 Opera Vista New Opera Competition will select six scores as semi-finalists for the competition, and the winners will receive fully-staged performances in 2009. A panel of judges will critique the competitors, but the audience will select the contest winner from among the excerpts performed.
"Opera is more popular than it has ever been in the United States," said Opera Vista Artistic Director Viswa Subbaraman, "And there's a hunger in that audience to see new works performed. Opera Vista exists to give a voice to those new works, and to give our audiences a chance to connect to the vitality and excitement that is contemporary opera."
To enter the competition, the composer should provide 2 scores for the preliminary selection – the opera does not have to be complete for the selection stage, but if the opera is selected as a finalist, a full score must be available by March 1, 2008.
There is no age limit for the Vista Competition, and international applicants are welcome. Works with a performance history of 1 or fewer productions are eligible for entry. The maximum duration of the opera should be 120 minutes.
Instrumentation of the works should be limited to a maximum of 10 instrumentalists, and a maximum of 6 singers of any voice type may be used with no chorus outside the six singers.
"Even we were amazed at the range and universally high quality of last years' contest entries," says Subbaraman, "We are definitely looking forward to seeing what this year's crop of entries brings."
All entries must be received and complete by February 11, 2008. For complete contest rules, eligibility, and application form please visit www.operavista.org.
What the Houston Press says about Opera VistaWatching Opera Vista's exhilarating inaugural program last weekend (June 21-24), one thing's certain: In the contemporary world of opera, the fat lady's still alive. D.L. Groover, Houston Press
This was the classiest American Idol you could imagine, even to the trio of "judges" (all accomplished musicians) who offered their criticism and advice to the participants. D.L. Groover, Houston Press
If Opera Vista's artistic director/co-founder Viswa Subbaraman continues on such a high, future full houses are assured, and we can look forward to some exciting nights at the opera. D.L. Groover, Houston Press

Record Label: Unknown Indie
Type of Label: Unsigned